A variety of exercise apparatus exists which allow the user to exercise by simulating a striding motion. Some exercise devices allow a stepping motion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,343, entitled “Stationary Exercise Device,” illustrates an exercise device that includes a pair of foot-engaging links for a striding motion. One end of each foot link is supported for rotational motion about a pivot access, and a second end of each foot link is guided in a reciprocal path of travel. The combination of these two foot link motions permits the user's foot to travel in an inclined, generally oval path of travel. The resulting foot action exercises a large number of muscles through a wide range of motion. The exercise device includes a pair of bell cranks, similar to the bell cranks used with bicycle pedals, traveling in identical circular paths 180 degrees apart. The circular paths each have a fixed diameter, which is a function of the fixed length of the bell crank web. The first end of each foot link is pinned to the outer end of one of the bell cranks, and thus also travels in a circular path of a fixed diameter. The second ends of the foot links are either slidingly or rollingly engaged with a linear track, or suspended by a swinging link arm, such that the rotary motion of the first ends of the foot links and the reciprocating motion of the second ends of the foot links, in combination, result in a reciprocating, pseudo-elliptical foot path for the foot pad positioned between the first and second ends of each foot link and on which a user stands. The fixed resulting foot path is a predetermined, machine-defined path that is variable only by manually changing physical parameters of the equipment. Thus, while the exercise device may provide a foot action that exercises a large number of muscles through a wide range of motion, it confines the range of motion by limiting the path traveled by the first ends of the foot links to the circular path of the bell cranks.